Mainly political insight into matters affecting Burntwood residents and named after the much-loved suite the Tories never replaced.

First the Tip Tax, now the Bin Tax. What next?

Which one next will the Council introduce?

Your County Council candidates, Steve Norman and Sue Woodward, led the decision to consult residents on the District Council’s dire financial problems when both were members of Lichfield District Council in May 2014.

The above chart shows what residents though about various options to generate extra income. 70% of you were opposed to charging for emptying our brown bins but your District Council will ignore that because the County Council is going to “charge” them. As both Conservative-run councils have already increased your Council Tax to the maximum allowed by the Government what are they going to choose next to plug the £2.3 million gap by 2021/21? Charging for disabled parking in the district and for car parking in Chasetown?

Why are they doing this?

Soon the Government grant to local authorities will be zero. The only other way to fund services is by attracting more businesses, charging for service previously free and – building more houses.

The District Council gets a “New Home Bonus” from the Government, using a complicated formula, and for 2017/18 this is predicted to be £2.353 million in total. So now you can see why the Green Belt is under threat in Burntwood and elsewhere and why you are being charged for services you thought you paid for.

Staffordshire County Council are also affected and benefit from the New Homes Bonus at the same time as the Government reduces their grant. So now you know why they closed the Youth Service, can’t repair our roads, charge for DIY waste at the Recycling Centre (the Tip Tax) and even want to stop the maintenance of stairlifts for older and disabled people!